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| premiereopera at (no spam) aol.com... |
 Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:07 am |
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Metropolitan Opera House
November 29, 1948 Telecast
Opening Night {64}
Edward Johnson, General Manager
OTELLO {94}
Giuseppe Verdi--Arrigo Boito
Otello..................Ramon Vinay
Desdemona...............Licia Albanese
Iago....................Leonard Warren
Emilia..................Martha Lipton
Cassio..................John Garris
Lodovico................Nicola Moscona
Montàno.................Clifford Harvuot
Roderigo................Thomas Hayward
Herald..................Philip Kinsman
Conductor...............Fritz Busch
Director................Herbert Graf
Set designer............Donald Oenslager
Otello received twelve performances this season.
[This was the first telecast from the stage of the opera house.]
Review of Irving Kolodin in the Sun
The opera season that wasn't to be, opened in the Metropolitan last
night with an audience which, for numbers and finery, gave no evidence
of being improvised in haste. The pageantry outside was as well-
rehearsed, as familiar in casting, as the opera inside; there was
indeed a touch of elegance not customary in the fourrageres of the
attendants representing the ABC network which made history by
telecasting an opera for the first time from the house.
That opera, if it has escaped mention previously, was "Otello," which
can be magnificent or drab according to the degree to which the
performers fulfill the opportunities presented by the composer (Verdi)
and the librettist (Shakespeare, amended by Boito). As often as it
verged toward the higher category, the credit was due primarily to
Fritz Busch, who conducted, and Licia Albanese, who sang Desdemona,
both for the first time here. In fact, it was the high musical
standard established by Busch which, refusing to be affected by early
uncertainties, finally brought the work to an eloquent conclusion.
The mention of the musical standard is pertinent, for Busch inclines
less to broad dramatic effects than to a clean, orderly (sometimes
even subtle) addition of one detail to another. But, as we have
learned before, from his "Tristan" and "Lohengrin," there is always
line and purpose to his conception. I have heard the opening storm
more furiously delivered, the rank drama of the second act played with
more vivid colors, but the effects accumulated to a truly beautiful
final scene.
ALBANESE IN FINE VOICE
That the success of this final scene depends most on the temper of the
Desdemona is a tribute to the artistry of Mme. Albanese. She did not
seize the mood of the work at once (the first act glamour of the love
duet would not seem to be her style at all) but as the
characterization becomes increasingly woebegone, the qualities which
have made her an admirable Butterfly, for example, mount in
importance. These include real skill in shaping a vocal line, and the
talent (by no means common among prima donni) for arousing the
sympathy of an audience. After a rather careful beginning, Mme.
Albanese's voice was wholly at her command (save for a little waver in
the "Ave Maria") with scant suggestion of the vocal weakness which
followed her illness a year ago. Her "Willow Song" was an uncommon
piece of vocal art.
In the early acts, dependent as they are on the Otello and Iago, the
performance bruised rather than seared. Ramon Vinay had the use of a
mantle used by Edwin Booth, a scimitar employed by E. L. Davenport,
and a handkerchief touched by the hand of Salvini, illustrious Otellos
all. Since no one has found the secret of transmitting the voice of
Tamagno, Slezak or Martinelli to another, Vinay relied upon his own.
All one can say is that he was probably more uncomfortable, even, than
his listeners; for he has no top to speak of, and this is a part
where, only occasionally, the writing is reasonable. One suffered with
him, but not for the reasons intended by Verdi. He was never too
tortured to smooth a sleeve or straighten his tunic, which left
credibility a little lacking. Now and then his voice approached
eloquence, but only fleetingly.
Since Shaw found Maurel, the original Iago, the equivalent of "a good
provincial tragedian, mouthing and ranting a little" there is probably
no purpose in taxing Leonard Warren for his dramatic failings. In
fact, he blended better with Herbert Graf's stage pictures than before
and was invariably good for a sonorous phrase when the performance was
in need of it. Thought, or use, seems to have blemished the old vocal
bloom of Warren; we hope it is the former rather than the latter, for
that can be corrected. Mention should be made, too, of a clean,
sensitive Cassio by John Garris and Thomas Hayward's able Roderigo.
The Metropolitan opening between Thanksgiving and Christmas might well
be institutionalized as a supplementary holiday; it is cause for
thanks, unquestionably, and yet does not carry the implication of
unexpected gifts associated with the rule. Comment on the televising
may be left for others, but the last was highly successful. The black
and white pictures were unexpectedly effective, and the close-ups -
musical and visual - were vastly beyond what any one in the theater
could experience. If this is the infancy of the art, its adolescence
(and maturity) can only be awaited with impatience.
==============================================================================
Carmen {490} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/11/1952., Telecast
(Telecast)
Metropolitan Opera House
December 11, 1952 Telecast
CARMEN {490}
Carmen..................Risë Stevens
Don José................Richard Tucker
Micaela.................Nadine Conner
Escamillo...............Robert Merrill
Frasquita...............Lucine Amara
Mercédès................Margaret Roggero
Remendado...............Alessio De Paolis
Dancaïre................George Cehanovsky
Zuniga..................Osie Hawkins
Moralès.................Clifford Harvuot
Dance...................Janet Collins
Dance...................Loren Hightower
Conductor...............Fritz Reiner
Director................Tyrone Guthrie
Designer................Rolf Gérard
Choreographer...........Zachary Solov
TV Director.............Clark Jones
[The performance was relayed via closed-circuit television to 31 movie
theaters in 26 cities throughout the United States.] |
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